We discovered Windy Oaks when they opened a tasting room in Carmel Valley (yes, you’ve heard this before). The winery is located in Corralitos in the Santa Cruz Mountains, overlooking the Monterey Bay. While most of their wines are from their 30-acres of vineyards, where they produce Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah, they also source grapes from Monterey County. We found them interesting for what they have done with clones, making even a non-Pinot Noir lover stop to enjoy their wines. But I digress.
From Windy Oaks: “Windy Oaks was founded in 1996 by Jim and Judy Schultze, when they returned to California after living overseas for 7 years in Australia and Europe. On a windy ridge in Corralitos, overlooking Monterey Bay, they planted their first three acres and produced their first vintage of Pinot Noir in 1999. Today, they farm almost 30 acres of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Syrah.”
Windy Oaks was named “Winery of the Year 2018 by Rusty Gaffney, PinotFile, one of the most knowledgeable wine writers in the industry.”
Windy Oaks 2015 Night Owl Red GSM, Monterey County, 13.8% ABV, $28? (#8*)
Today’s wine, the 2015 Night Owl Red, is a Rhône blend – a Grenache-Syrah-Mourvèdre (GSM) blended from 3 different Monterey County AVAs: Arroyo Seco, Chalone, and Santa Lucia Highlands. We would expect a GSM to be a bold wine, a bit leathery with dark fruits.
My Review: A beautiful ruby red in color, this wine has bright fruit notes on the nose and palate, with a darker fruit finish and a bit of that bitterness or leather one might expect. I found the brighter fruits made it very drinkable and enjoyable, while the finish would stand up to a good meal and leave you wanting more. I don’t have notes on the exact blend for this wine, but I would expect it to be 40-45% Grenache, 25-30% Syrah, and 30% Mourvèdre. There is not much publicly available information on this vintage; 2016 is the current release.
All of Windy Oaks tasting rooms are open: at the winery, in Carmel-By-The-Sea, and in Carmel Valley Village. Check here for the details: http://www.windyoaksestate.com/. Please call 831-724-9562 for reservations and other pertinent info.
*Refers to wines tasted while Sheltering in Place on Sharon’s personal Facebook group “Sharon’s Central Coast (Monterey) Wine Blog” – including non-Central Coast wines.
© Decanting Monterey 2020
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